Monty unhappy with Lyle's "strange" apology

By Tony Jimenez

TURNBERRY, Scotland (Reuters) - Twice major winner Sandy Lyle has said sorry for suggesting Colin Montgomerie had "cheated" in a tournament four years ago although Europe's 2010 Ryder Cup captain called the apology "strange."

Lyle made the claims in Tuesday's Daily Mirror newspaper, referring to an incident at the 2005 Indonesian Open when television replays indicated his fellow Scot had incorrectly replaced his ball after an overnight weather delay.

After seeing video footage of the episode, Montgomerie agreed he had made an innocent mistake and decided to give his $40,000 (24,494 pounds) prize money to the Tsunami Appeal.

"I regret bringing up the 2005 incident in Jakarta," Lyle told reporters at the British Open on Tuesday. "Colin Montgomerie and I are not at war, Colin is a great champion and a good friend.

"I think that literally the big line of calling Colin a cheat ... is totally out of context. I was obviously very upset this morning when I found out all this was brought to the forefront."

STRANGE APOLOGY

Speaking about Lyle's climb-down before practising on Tuesday, Montgomerie was quoted by British media as saying: "It's a rather strange apology to be honest. I'm just trying to compete in the Open and my preparations have been dented.

"I'm not very happy about that at all."